August 17, 2016 - Wolverton to Heather Lake and the Watchtower

Title:August 17, 2016 - Wolverton to Heather Lake and the Watchtower
Hike Info : Description : Trail Lessons : Background :  Extra Photo's :  Flowers and Plants

Trail head: Wolverton

Hike Info:

Type:  Hiking

Trail: Lakes Trail including The Hump and The Watchtower trails

Destination: Heather Lake and the Watchtower

Distance:  8.00 miles
Start Time: 11:02
End Time:   6:42
Travel Time:  7:39 (1.05 mph)
Moving Time:  4:43 (1.70 mph)
Elevation Rise: 2,070'
Maximum Elevation:9,434'

Description:
This one started as an overnight trip to Pear Lake, then a day trip up to Pear Lake. Now it is lets see how far we can go and just enjoy the day out.

Sherri at the start of the trail

By the time we leave Fresno, it is close to 9:30 and we get to Wolverton a little before 11. Sherri takes off. But I stop and talk with a backpacker from Carlsbad. He has a "Take A Hike" T-Shirt which features the three Sierra National Parks: Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia. He has hit the trail in all three of these and will return back to teaching next week. But he had a grand time. We talk about different places. He mentions the Lost Coast and I tell him it is on  my list of hikes to do.

After talking for 15 minutes, it it time to rejoin Sherri. But she has stopped only a hundred yards up the trail, waiting for me. Foolish woman! You would think that after close to 40 years she would know how long I could chat with someone?

The thing about this trail is that it is a long and grinding uphill. The trail is not content just to defeat you, but to pulverize you into trail dust. So why do it? Because you know there is rewards to those who preserver. Sort of like life you know, just because there is pain and suffering, is the end result is worth it, you continue to endure. If not, you look for an alternative.

We eat lunch at the Panther Gap trail junction. I also am testing out our SPOT device. It did not function reliably during our abbreviated JMT trip. During lunch, a couple of young women came up-Nikki and Sonya.  They are from Fresno and this is a different Sonya than the one we usually hike with. We talk for a while and then they leave right before we do.

The Hump trail is about a quarter mile from our lunch break and that is the trail we take. It is used during the Spring and until the Watchtower trail is safe from ice. But the disadvantage is that it does go a couple hundred feet higher than going via the Watchtower. Also this is not a trail of grand vistas but through the woods. Also there is no downhill on it. It is all up. And that is what we do, climb to the top of the Hump, and there we start to get our reward.

Looking North From the Hump

Gary enjoying the view

At the top, we stop for a break. Or do we stop to gawk? Either way it was time for a rest. And if our resting spot gave us a view, who am I to complain? From our vantage point, we can see across into the Tablelands. This is a treeless area at the headwaters of the Topakah Creek. No trails go through there, but it is a favorite cross-country route for many people. Another test of one of our SPOT devices.

Then we drop down a couple hundred feet and join the Watchtower trail to Heather Lake. There we met some hikers. One has a good nature comment of, you are close, you are almost there. I apologized in advance and replied I was going to get metaphysical on him by asking "What does he mean 'almost there'? I prefer to think that I am here." He replied that he really liked my comment.

Gary heading towards Heather Lake

But my new friend was right, we made it to Heather Lake in just a steps. While Sherri went off to visit Nature, I stayed by the lake. Our now old friends, Sonya and Nikki then strolled up. We talked for a good length of time while relaxing by the lake. Nothing deep, just friendly. But then it was time to leave.

About this time, we raise the question, have we told Steven, our son who is taking care of my Mom, that we are out hiking? We think so, but cannot think of a specific conversation. Will try to reach him on the way down.

Heather Lake

Gary on the Watchtower Trail

Instead of coming back via the Hump, we will take the more scenic route of The Watchtower. This trail is cut into a cliff, giving a great view of the Tablelands and the Tokopah Canyon area. But it is not for those with vertigo or a concern for falling. One slip and you will have a one way flight to the bottom, maybe a thousand feet down. On the other hand, bring your camera since each step you take presents new opportunities for pictures of the oooh and ahhh quality.

View from the Watchtower Trail

Sherri looking across the Tokopah Canyon

The Watchtower

By the time we reach the Watchtower, it is pretty late. So we do only a brief stop and gawk. Enough to take a few pictures and then move on. It is about 3 miles back to the car and mostly downhill. We meet an older couple who are struggling a bit. but who are taking a small break. They comment about how hard this trip is. Hard yes, but not too bad for those in shape-I only think it, not say it. Am I getting wiser in my old age?

By the time we make it back to the car, the shadows are getting long and I have not been able to reach Steven to confirm that he is taking care of my Mom. I do a final test of the SPOT and place it on top of the car. We decide to see if the Lodgepole cafe is open. It is and we have a hamburger. Sherri calls Steven and finds out, no we have not told him we went hiking. But an intelligent son that he is, he has deduced it. As we pass by Squaw Valley, I hear a thump off of the car, and nothing else. We continue on. By the time we get home, it is after 9pm and we are tired.

Trail Lesson:

Being "here" is much better than even being "almost there."


Background
We have two SPOT devices: SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger (Ritto) and a SPOT Connect (Shirley). The devices are named after our pets. In the past they have worked OK, with  80-90% success. But during our JMT walk, Ritto only connected once out of the three nights. So this hike, I wanted to test it out. Below is the results-it is an e-mail I sent my brother. I also sent the contents of the e-mail to the SPOT people.

I am not sure if I have an endorsement of the SPOT or throw it away decision. After our aborted JMT attempt and getting only one out of three signals to be received, I have been trying to get the SPOT Messanger to work. First the endorsement:

We had come back from our hike out of Wolverton in Sequoia NP. I wanted to get one last "OK" message sent. So in the parking lot I set off the "OK" message and set it on top of the car to transmit. It actually did transmit. I also had Tracks on.  But as you might have guessed, I forgot the SPOT on top of the roof. As i am driving home last night, I hear a clink on the roof, but not sure what it is-this happened just outside of Squaw Valley. I get home, do not find the SPOT device. So before going to bed, I look at the SPOT map and there it is at the corner of Lovewell and Hwy 180. I get up this morning and there is a ton of tracks at that location. This morning I drove back out there and was able to recover the device.

So why am I about to throw it away?
1) When out on the trail, two out of three OK messages were not received.
2) Last Saturday I walked around my neighborhood with Tracks on and with trying the OK button a couple of times-55 minutes. Not one was received.
3) Yesterday I set on TRACKS at the start of our hike, around 11am. We finished up a little before 7pm. I pressed OK three times. I got one of them. The first two times was once at lunch around 12:30; the second when we stopped for a rest at the top of the Pear Lake Hump. Both times we were stationary about 20-30 minutes. The one time it did show was the one which I left the SPOT on top of the car. The TRACKS on the trail was only a little bit better. I had six tracks left between 2:30pm and 4:40pm. One wonders what happened to the tracks between 11am and 2:30 and the those between 4:40 and 6:45pm.

While I will not "throw it away", until I understand better why it is not reliable, it will not be relied upon. Sounds like a support call.

On a recent backpack trip I got three out of four messages from "Ritto" and three out of five from Shirley. SPOT support has offered a discount on a new SPOT. But then I also got a notice that SPOT is raising their service fee by about 33%. So I am not sure I will renew. I have a month to think about it.

Extra Photo's

Up the Tokopah Valley

Trail View looking west

Alta Peak on the Right

Trail Through Two Trees

 
Flowers and Plants